Korean and Korean American Life Writing in Hawai'i

Korean and Korean American Life Writing in Hawai'i
Author: Heui-Yung Park
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2015-12-16
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1498507689

Korean and Korean American Life Writing in Hawai'i examines such self-representing genres as lyric poems, oral history, autobiography, and memoirs written by Korean and Korean Americans from the early twentieth century to the present, in order to explore how these people have shaped their individual or collective identities. Their representations, produced in different periods by successive generations, reveal how Koreans in their diaspora to Hawai‘i came to terms with their ethnic and local selves, and also how the sense of who and what they are changed over the years, both within and beyond the initial generation. Looking into their individual and collective identities in lyric poems, oral history, autobiography, and memoirs reveals how the earliest arrivals, their children, and their grandchildren have come to terms with their national, ethnic, and local selves, and how their sense of identity changes over the course of time, both within and beyond the initial generation. In the lyric poems found in Korean-language periodicals of the native-born generation, we can trace the significance of the motherland and Hawai‘i for these writers’ sense of identity. The oral histories of first-generation women, most of whom arrived as picture brides, also represent another “us”: often vulnerable Koreans who define themselves in relation to both the present culture and to Korean men. The self developed by the second-, third-, and in-between-generation Koreans diversifies because their identity is not defined exclusively by their ancestral land, extending to Hawai‘i and to America. This study focuses on three main areas of emphasis: Hawai‘i; Korean language and culture; and life writing. By tracing how identity changes with each generation, this study reveals how identity formation for Hawai‘i diasporic Koreans has evolved.

Yobo

Yobo
Author: Nora Okja Keller
Publisher:
Total Pages: 390
Release: 2003
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Cultural Writing. Poetry. Fiction. Asian American Studies. This special issue of Bamboo Ridge (No. 82) is guest edited by Nora Okja Keller (Comfort Woman, Fox Girl), Brenda Kwon, Sun Namkung, Gary Pak (The Watcher of Waipuna, The Ricepaper Airplane), and Cathy Song (Picture Bride, The Land of Bliss). Contributors include HONOLULU Magazine editor-at-large David K. Choo, Ploughshares editor Don Lee (Yellow), Chris McKinney (The Tattoo, The Queen of Tears), and former Hawai'i State Representative Jackie Young. From the earliest plantation experiences to modern life and culture in the 50th state, topics explored by the writers chronicle the Korean-American experience through evocative essays, poetry, and prose.

The Koreans in Hawai'i

The Koreans in Hawai'i
Author: Roberta Chang
Publisher: Latitude 20
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2003
Genre: History
ISBN:

"The photographs, in illuminating and complementing writings and oral histories found elsewhere, provide insight into Hawai'i's Korean immigrant community, politics, and everyday life. They reveal the struggles and successes of the first and subsequent generations, allowing the viewers to connect with the past.

Asian Settler Colonialism

Asian Settler Colonialism
Author: Jonathan Y. Okamura
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2008-08-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 0824861515

Asian Settler Colonialism is a groundbreaking collection that examines the roles of Asians as settlers in Hawai‘i. Contributors from various fields and disciplines investigate aspects of Asian settler colonialism to illustrate its diverse operations and impact on Native Hawaiians. Essays range from analyses of Japanese, Korean, and Filipino settlement to accounts of Asian settler practices in the legislature, the prison industrial complex, and the U.S. military to critiques of Asian settlers’ claims to Hawai‘i in literature and the visual arts.

Asian American Fiction, History and Life Writing

Asian American Fiction, History and Life Writing
Author: Helena Grice
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2012-11-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 1136604855

The last ten years have witnessed an enormous growth in American interest in Asia and Asian/American history. In particular, a set of key Asian historical moments have recently become the subject of intense American cultural scrutiny, namely China’s Cultural Revolution and its aftermath; the Korean American war and its legacy; the era of Japanese geisha culture and its subsequent decline; and China’s one-child policy and the rise of transracial, international adoption in its wake. Grice examines and accounts for this cultural and literary preoccupation, exploring the corresponding historical-political situations that have both circumscribed and enabled greater cultural and political contact between Asia and America.

Man Sei!

Man Sei!
Author: Peter Hyun
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 212
Release: 1996-06-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780824818661

In this autobiographical account of life in Seoul just before the March First uprising in 1919 and exile in Shanghai afterwards, Peter Hyun vividly describes what it was like to grow up in an occupied Korea subjected to Japanese colonial rule. The son of a member of the Korean Provisional Government in Exile, Hyun presents an intimate portrait of that small band of Korean revolutionaries who kept alive the hope of Korean independence. They have been all but forgotten or ignored, and their story, told by an eyewitness, represents a valubale historical record. At the heart of the story are the author's father, the patriot Reverend Soon Hyun, and his mother, Maria Hyun, an extraordinary woman of courage and integrity.

Asian American Dreams

Asian American Dreams
Author: Helen Zia
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2001-05-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780374527365

" ... about the transformation of Asian Americans ... into a self-identified racial group that is influencing every aspect of American society."--Jacket.

Swimming in Hong Kong

Swimming in Hong Kong
Author: Stephanie Han
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780983231769

Stephanie Han's award-winning stories cross the borders and boundaries of Hong Kong, Korea, and the United States. This is an intimate look at those who dare to explore the geography of hope and love, struggle with dreams of longing and home, and wander in the myths of memory and desire. Book jacket.

The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature [3 volumes]

The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature [3 volumes]
Author: Guiyou Huang
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 1250
Release: 2008-12-30
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1567207367

Asian American literature dates back to the close of the 19th century, and during the years following World War II it significantly expanded in volume and diversity. Monumental in scope, this encyclopedia surveys Asian American literature from its origins through 2007. Included are more than 270 alphabetically arranged entries on writers, major works, significant historical events, and important terms and concepts. Thus the encyclopedia gives special attention to the historical, social, cultural, and legal contexts surrounding Asian American literature and central to the Asian American experience. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and cites works for further reading, and the encyclopedia closes with a selected, general bibliography of essential print and electronic resources. While literature students will value this encyclopedia as a guide to writings by Asian Americans, the encyclopedia also supports the social studies curriculum by helping students use literature to learn about Asian American history and culture, as it pertains to writers from a host of Asian ethnic and cultural backgrounds, including Afghans, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Iranians, Indians, Vietnamese, Hawaiians, and other Asian Pacific Islanders. The encyclopedia supports the literature curriculum by helping students learn more about Asian American literature. In addition, it supports the social studies curriculum by helping students learn about the Asian American historical and cultural experience.